Removing/installing the rear wheel on the VTX 1800c

Preface
This is a basic walk-through for removing/installing the rear wheel on the VTX 1800C. The process is basically identical for the 1300 model with the slight exception that the axle bolt is 8mm instead of 12mm. This is a pretty simple job which requires a few basic tools and a torque wrench if you have a decent walk-through - I hope to remedy that last part with this. As always undertake this project at your own risk, but with a little common sense this isn't very hard to do at all. Some say that you need to remove the exhaust and the license plate bracket to do this but with a little patience and care I've never had a problem getting this done with them on.

Preparation/supplies

Motorcycle lift

Torque wrench capable of 31 to 81 ft/lbs of torque

Moly paste available from HDL

Deadblow hammer or hammer and block of wood

5mm, 12mm OR 7/16" allen socket (if you're doing a 1300 you need a 8mm instead of 12mm)

14mm, 27mm OR 1 1/16" socket

Removal
Before lifting the bike remove the 14mm brake stopper pin and the 5mm brake line clamp. Technically you don't HAVE to remove the 5mm brake line clamp, but it makes the task a little easier. 1300's don't have this 5mm bolt.

Note for Retro guys: You may have to unbolt the exhaust from the hanger bracket and "flex" it out a little to give yourself enough space to get the brake pin out.

With those removed take the 12mm or 7/16" allen socket (8mm for 1300's) for the left side and the 27mm or 1 1/16" socket for the right side and break the axle nut loose but do NOT remove it yet.

Now raise the bike on the lift and block the front wheel with something so the bike won't rock too bad when the rear wheel comes off. With the bike secured you can remove the axle nut and begin to drive/pull the axle out. Once the axle is driven past the brake mounting plate you can rotate the brake back and out of the way:

With the brake out of the way remove the spacer from behind it and put it someplace you won't lose track of it. Now finish driving the axle out completely - don't worry, the final drive is sealed so it won't leak oil anywhere and the wheel is held into the hub by it's splines so the wheel won't fall out on you even with the axle completely removed. If you need to drive the axle out use something softer than the axle like a wooden dowel (broom stick perhaps?) so that you won't damage the axle or it's threads.

With the axle, spacer, and brake assembly removed you can sit behind the bike and slide the wheel to the right until it disengages from the splines in the final drive and falls out. At this point I usually reassemble the axle, spacer, and brake just so nothing gets misplaced and the brake isn't hanging from the hose:

While you've got everything broken down do some inspection to make sure you're riding safe - check the axle, bearings, dust seals, bolts, etc. If anything seems worn or faulty then replace it - is your life/safety really worth a $.50 bolt or a $15 bearing?

Pay special attention to this bearing:

As there have been many reports of problematic drive flanges and bearings. You can read more about the problem here and on multiple other threads on the VTXOA. If you find you have a bad bearing please report it here so we can help make Honda fix the cause of the problem before someone gets hurt.

Intermission...
Now is the portion of the write-up when you do whatever you were removing the tire for in the first place...

Install
This is pretty much the reverse of what we just did to remove the wheel. If for any reason the rotor needed to be removed (some shops will remove it to swap tires) make sure that they are reinstalled with red loctite and torqued to 31 ft/lbs. The manual doesn't mention loctite on these bolts because they "require" replacement and new bolts come with the loctite on them. If your bolts look fine then they should be ok to re-use (with loctite). If you don't feel comfortable re-using then replace them, they are 8x24 metric bolts available from HOP for $3.07 each (OEM# 90105-MBB-000).
With the rotor on we need to liberally coat our splines with moly paste. The splines are the square ridges that allow the wheel to "lock" into the final drive:

This is a controversial subject among many riders who change their own tires... Honda recommends the moly paste for this application but lots of guys use a moly "grease" instead since it's cheaper and more readily available. The problem is that moly "grease" does not have the moly content that the paste does and therefore does not offer the protection of the paste AND it can be slung off the wheel under extreme conditions (think how fast that hub spins!). These splines see a lot of hard use and abuse so I wouldn't cut corners on something trivial like this that costs $9 and will last you through many tire changes. Sadly I've seen many Honda shops that use the grease out of convenience as well - this is just one more incentive to do your own work!
Consider what I've said here and don't be shy putting the paste on both sets of splines (hub and wheel).

With the splines well coated with moly paste we can slide the wheel back under the bike, lift it into place and slide it left until it seats into the final drive. You may need to rotate the wheel a little bit to get the splines to line up so you can slide it over and into place. Once the wheel is back in place get the axle out and start to slide it back in. If it was hard to remove it wouldn't hurt to lightly sand it with a light grit sandpaper to clean it up and then coat it with a little moly paste, this should make it go in easily. With the axle started back in reinstall the spacer and the brake mounting bracket making sure that the brake pads are seated properly on the rotor:

With everything back in place finish driving the axle in with a deadblow hammer or a hammer and block of wood so you don't damage the axle. With the axle driven all the way in take the 12mm or 7/16" allen socket (8mm for the 1300's) for the left side and the 27mm or 1 1/16" socket for the right side and tighten the axle nut to 81 ft/lbs. With the exhaust in place, different length aftermarket shocks, etc you may need to use an extension or U-joint to get to the axle nut to torque it down. I've also found that sometimes just having someone sit on the bike (after it's back on the ground) can provide enough of a height change to allow access to the nut.

With the bike back on the ground and the axle torqued down reinstall the 14mm brake stopper pin to 51 ft/lbs and the 5mm brake line clamp to 9 ft/lbs:

That's it, you're done!

Afterthoughts
This is a fairly easy job for most riders to do and it can cut your tire changing costs in half. More money = more chrome and that's a good thing!